Ford announces three surprise taskforces; puts Mammoliti in charge

Mayor Rob Ford announced three surprise task forces on homelessness, daycare and ice rink infrastructure, on Tuesday and placed Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti at the helm of the trio. Mayor Ford said the daycare task force will look into “what can be done to make childcare sustainable.”

Mr. Mammoliti, chair of community development and recreation committee, said the group’s mission will be to look at alternative sources of funding that can increase the number of spaces, and examine the private sector’s role in delivering child care.

He went so far as to say that if the provincial government, which subsidizes daycare spots, does not come up with more funding, “we’re not sure whether we can continue this.” On arenas, Mr. Mammoliti touted the federal government’s public-private partnership program as the key to solving Toronto ice rink shortage.

“I think we can pretty much move into an era where we are building ice rinks at pretty much no costs to the city of Toronto,” said Mr. Mammoliti. He was unable, however, to describe the goals of the homelessness task force, except to say that both he and Mayor Ford want to “move into an era where we don’t have people sleeping on the street.”

Councillor Janet Davis, a political opponent, said the task forces are a waste of money. She pointed to a recent report, called “I should have applied before I was pregnant”, that tackles the dearth of affordable daycare.

“What we need is an aggressive intergovernmental strategy from this Mayor who will recognize that we do need funding from the province and the federal government, that it isn’t begging, it’s calling on the other levels of government to stand up and take responsibility,” said Ms. Davis.